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Cisco Cloud Services Router vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Cloud Services Router
Ranking in Routers
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch
Ranking in Routers
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Cloud Services Router is 5.0%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 8.2%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch8.2%
Cisco Cloud Services Router5.0%
Other86.8%
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

VENKATESHREDDY - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate IT Director at Diligent Global
Manageable, provides excellent support, and easily integrates with other products
One central area for improvement in Cisco is its product line offering. Cisco has ISE and other products, such as DNS Center and other components. Instead of small to medium-sized customers purchasing devices and maintaining the devices, it would be great if customers could have subscriptions. A CAPEX/OPEX model instead of that Cisco code, where the pricing model is subscription-based, would give much better flexibility for the customers. The pricing and model for Cisco Cloud Services Router and other Cisco products could be improved. One good example of what I want to be added to the Cisco Cloud Services Router in its next version is for it to be more of a plug-and-play product. For example, Juniper has developed QR codes, so if you need to plug in a device, you scan from your phone and connect to the internet. That's it. You can provision the device remotely through the cloud orchestrator, so I want to see a similar function or feature in Cisco Cloud Services Router.
Andriejus Artamonovas - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported deeper configuration through traffic mirroring and advanced VLAN setup
The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio. In comparison to UniFi switches, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch can mirror all ports for traffic inspection for further traffic analysis, which UniFi cannot do. VLANs in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch are always useful. The way MikroTik implements VLAN-aware switching at the bridge level is hidden in the configuration. Making CRS work as a simple VLAN-aware switch requires deeper configuration, which is not intuitive. VLANs support individual interfaces not part of the bridge, allowing for double VLANing. You can create a VLAN interface in the interfaces context and also create a bridge interface, add physical ports, create VLANs for that bridge interface, and assign tagged and untagged ports and VLANs. Load balancing is one of the key components. The feature itself is quite efficient and works reliably on MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. The very basic setup is one of my favorites because they have their protocol where I can connect through the MAC address right on Layer 2, and I don't lose connectivity to the switch if I mess up with bridging or IP addressing.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"When the customer buys Cisco, they receive security and the capabilities to do many thing with networking, like routing and installation of networks."
"Cisco Cloud Services Router is a stable solution and we have not had any issues."
"The deployment was pretty quick, so the AWS Marketplace options are very helpful."
"Cisco's technical support is pretty good - they have a professional support center to handle any problems and will send out an expert to help you resolve any issues."
"In summary, this is a good product and I recommend it."
"The most valuable features of the Cisco Cloud Services Router are the integration with Amazon and Oracle cloud."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco Cloud Services Router is it can make your migrations smooth. For example, if you want to migrate to the cloud, but you don't want to change the IP. You can extend your VLAN from on-premise to the cloud without having to change the IP."
"It integrates well with the other products we're using. We have it with multiple windows like Palo Alto, Arista and it easily integrated with them."
"The technical support for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is superb."
"There are a lot of features to control permitting or stopping packets in the network."
"MikroTik Cloud Router Switch stands out for its features, especially those available at that price point."
"The wiki page that describes the scripting and other features is very good."
"This product is easy to configure."
"The interface management and the user access management is pretty good."
"I like that it's quite flexible and addresses different issues. It's quite easy to use, and the pricing is great. We find them to be very capable switches."
"This solution has improved a great deal over time and in many domains."
 

Cons

"I would like the ability to moderate between devices on-premise to off-premise. This would be a vast improvement."
"There should be a system in place to help existing users make an easier transition to the newer interfaces."
"It could grow or adapt to changes in the cloud. For example, cloud does not support autoscaling. When people want to grow, they have to do manual activities."
"The initial setup is easy for one device but is more complex when numerous devices need to be configured."
"A CAPEX/OPEX model, where the pricing model is subscription-based, would give much better flexibility for the customers. The pricing and model for Cisco Cloud Services Router and other Cisco products could be improved."
"This solution is kind of expensive."
"The configuration is difficult."
"Over the past couple of years, I've noticed that the Cisco CLIs and web-based interfaces have changed. As such, there is a bit of a learning curve for people."
"The solution does not yet offer a SaaS version."
"Simplifying the documentation would be a good idea."
"Technical support needs to be faster and more knowledgeable."
"Technical support is not very good. It isn't comprehensive."
"It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitations, particularly when trying to find specific features."
"The bulk efficiencies and the control of traffic could be a bit better."
"Most of the time, the MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is stable. If I were to rate the stability on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the best, I would give it a 5."
"Proper LACP support, more software support for hardware capabilities, true wirespeed Layer 3 routing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was easy; click a button and you have it."
"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was easy. It was almost a one-click process to purchase CSR."
"This solution is kind of expensive."
"The pricing is fine, though it might have been cheaper going through a partner or doing a direct buy."
"You do need to pay a licensing fee to use the solution. You can do a yearly or three-year subscription. The product itself is quite expensive. It would be ideal if they offered the product at a cheaper price."
"The cost needs improvement. It is very expensive through the AWS Marketplace."
"We never buy the product on the AWS Marketplace. We only download it. We always use BYOL. We never buy the license in the AWS Marketplace, because it's very expensive."
"The licensing model is good with this appliance: Bring Your Own License (BYOL)."
"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."
"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."
"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."
"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."
"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."
"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."
"The price is competitive."
"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
12%
Performing Arts
10%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Educational Organization
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitations, particularly when trying to find specific features. It would be beneficial to...
What is your primary use case for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
I mostly work with network equipment now, focusing mainly on routers. I work with FortiGates and MikroTik routers. When referring to FortiGate routers, I mean the firewalls, but not the enterprise-...
 

Also Known As

Cisco CSR, Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000v, Cisco CSR 1000v
MikroTik CRS Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Under Armour, HealthSparq, Adobe
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Cloud Services Router vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.